Lord Ouseley, Britain’s leading anti-racism campaigner and FA Council member,
wants the referee to take England’s players off the field if they are
racially abused by Ukraine fans in Donetsk on June 19. Recent reports have
highlighted the stain of racism in Ukraine.

“If it really got so offensive and violent I would hope the referee would take the players off,’’ said Ouseley, the chair of Kick It Out. “That’s the expectation if the situation got that bad.

"Officials have a responsibility to be alert to these things and point it out to administrators that if it is happening on the pitch and players are affected, action needs to be taken by those responsible for security and crowd control.

“Clearly if Ukraine fans behave badly there are a whole range of sanctions. It depends on the extent of the abuse. Have the stadium authorities and the national association taken all reasonable steps to have avoided it?

"Is it happening all around the ground? Or just a handful of people, who although they were abusive, were dealt with?

“If you’re talking about ultimate sanctions, you are talking about kicking people out of tournaments. One extreme would require another extreme to deal with it.”

Ouseley’s concern runs deep for supporters, though, particularly those travelling across the country. “People would be pretty mad to go. I certainly wouldn’t risk my life going there.

"I wouldn’t go to the Ukraine for this tournament. In the case of football it’s a pretty violent place and it’s very racist.”

He did understand why Uefa had granted Ukraine (and Poland) the Euros. “Fifa have taken the World Cup to South Africa, Brazil, Russia, Qatar. Fifa wants to spread the vision that a World Cup is for the world, as opposed to the same countries. The same theme applies to Europe.

"Should safe countries always get it like France, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Spain, England? You have to spread it.

“I suppose Uefa will have been given assurances by the Ukrainian football association that it would be a safe place to hold the tournament. That remains to be seen.”

The family of England's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be staying away because of the fear of racist abuse, the same reason for the non-attendance of Theo Walcott's family.

Centre-half Joleon Lescott will also be without family support, although that decision had been taken before racism fears were raised.

Ouseley was disappointed that one of England's most passionate campaigners on diversity issues, Rio Ferdinand, has been left behind for “footballing reasons”, according to Roy Hodgson.

The suspicion in many eyes is that Ferdinand was omitted because of potential for tension with John Terry, who has been charged with racially abusing Rio’s brother Anton. Terry denies the charge.

“It is unfortunate that incidents that have still to be resolved have led to a decision which hopefully we won’t have regrets over,’’ said Ouseley. “It’s a shame because Rio is such an experienced character. If England progress they may need that experience.

“Rio’s a big figure in football. There are many important parts to recognise as admirable about him. Firstly, he’s done things outside football, stood up on campaigns against gun crime, knife crime.

"He comes from a (estate) background in Peckham and has not turned his back on young people as he’s become famous and wealthy.

“Secondly, he has gone through some difficulties in his own time as a player. Thirdly, I don’t think his record in the last six months in footballing terms is that bad.”

Ouseley was impressed by the FA’s decision to organise a visit to Auschwitz for the players on arrival in Poland.

“I think that’s great. A lot of players will be moved by such an experience. It is always humbling for people to go through that experience of going to somewhere like Auschwitz, to understand the suffering, the incarceration and the unimaginable things that went on.’’